Second Chances
by rika08
Summary: After the events of ID, Jim finds himself sitting in a bar when an old friend joins him. K/OC


At one point in his life, Jim Kirk turned to alcohol. for comfort. It may have began after the incident on Tarsus, or after his final stint in juvie, or all the overwhelming emotional baggage he'd carried since birth, but whatever the reason was it had brought Kirk to something that never let him down. As he grew older, any reason became a reason to drink. He would get plastered simply to pass the time and pick up women. Jim Kirk was no alcoholic by any account. He managed more than fairly sober. He simply found enjoyment in drinking. But as of late, the peace he found in each glass seemed to evade him.

He drained the last of his drink from his glass and set it back on the bar with a clink. Jim motioned to the bartender for another round and cast a slow glance for the time. He'd taken up the stool nearly three hours ago and couldn't be considered tipsy by his standards, let alone the other patrons. The bar was nothing like the others he frequently attended. It was more authentically rustic. One of the few remnants of the past of Earth. Stools formed by steel and covered in real leather. Wall panels covered in wood. True neon lights, even a jukebox. The out of place bars such as tis one made Jim feel right at home-as he didn't seem to belong anywhere else. But whatever kept the alcohol from doing what it did best, must have been the same thing that was keeping him from leaving and going home. The bartender refilled Jim's drink and left the young Captain to his thoughts.

Since his latest brush with death, where he'd actually been touched and taken, beit twenty minutes of an hour, he had still died. His heart had stopped. Kirk found himself looking at everything differently. But nothing looked different in his eyes. Even in his head nothing made since. His life was the same, but at the same time it wasn't. He had died, but came back. No one else he knew had the luck to do so. Not his father, not Pike. Men who actually deserved to remain with the living. But him, an arrogant Starfleet Captain with no respect for his position, let alone the rules, was brought back. Kirk bitterly drained his glass in one sitting and set it down and called for another. The alcohol burned down his throat more so than usual. Maybe it was time to call it a night after this last one.

"Make it two." called a voice from behind. "On me."

Jim could've sworn he felt his heart stop simply by the voice alone. He hadn't heard that voice in years. He swallowed nervously, unsure whether he hoped he was wrong or right. Behind him stood another person from his painful past. She stood with her toned arms at her hips. Jim let his eyes wonder, if only to see how much she'd changed. He found great comfort in seeing that nothing was different. Her dark green top wrapped around her slim body, hiding her black tank beneath it. Her slender hips were encased in her dark pants, and black boots laced to perfection. Strands of chestnuts curls hung over her right shoulder, fraying from a braid that, he suspected, had been placed a week ago. Her mouth was close, jaw unclenched. But it was her eyes, those piercing green eyes that held him steady. God how he missed her.

He didn't know how long he spent staring at her, most likely about as long as it took to get his brain and mouth to function again after seeing her. "Hey Athena."

Athena gave him a curt nod of her head, bobbing her hair as she did. "Kirk."

"I uh...I...I didn't think you...got my message.." he replied.

"Well, I did." she said shortly, taking the stool beside him. "I've been off-planet for the past six months."

Jim nodded. "Right. The USS Nova. How'd you like space?"

"Cut the shit and tell me contacted me, Kirk." Athena snapped, her voice was cold.

Straight to the point, he wasn't surprised. Jim looked at his glass. He couldn't blame her for her temper. It was a mix of rightly placed anger toward him and a childhood growing up on a Runa Penthe. And considering she hadn't tried to hit him, Jim thought he was getting off fairly decently. He picked up his refilled glass and brought it to his lips. "Honestly Athena, I don't know."

Athena's gaze softened slightly as she snorted. "That's a first." She reached for her glass and drained half its contents. She set the glass back down, but didn't release it.

Jim glanced toward Athena. "I'm sorry about your father. I uh...I know how much he meant to you."

"Adopted, remember?" Athena replied draining the last of her drink. "you saw him more than I, this past year. And you attended his service."

"Adopted or not, you and I both know what Christopher Pike meant to you." he snapped.

"Is that why you contacted me? To give me your condolences?" Athena demanded. "Because I sure as hell don't need anymore. And especially not from you!"

"No." Jim countered. "No it's not, but right now it's the only common ground we have."

They fell into a heated silence. Neither one knew what to say to the other without an all out war between them. And after their recent time in space, it wasn't a good idea. Jim turned his attention back to his drink.

"I used to get so jealous of you." she said, breaking the silence.

Jim turned toward her quickly. "What?"

"He used to talk about you...so much." Athena began. She stared at her glass, thumbing it as she spoke. "Saying that you had the potential to be the best Captain for Starfleet. I could tell by his voice just how proud he was of you when he gave you the _Enterprise_. I almost started thinking he cared for you more than me." She paused to take a drink. "Not that I'd blame him."

Jim shook his head slowly. "No. If there was a competition between who he was more proud of...it would be you."

Athena snorted bitterly. "Prove it."

Jim reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a rectangular item. He set it on the bar and slid it toward Athena. It was a frame of two pictures. Both of Athena. The photos differed by a few years and uniforms, but it was her. "I've known the man for five years, been to his office more times than I can count. And every time his desk was always regulation specs, no clutter, nothing. But this thing sat there for as long as I can remember. First it was just one picture, then two." he explained. "You can claim he didn't give a damn about you, but we both know you were the most important person in his life. No one else would've spent that much time on you if they didn't care." Jim finished off his drink and was silent.

Athena stared sat the photo. Her fingers traced over the clear casing. She stared at the contrasting uniforms of Starfleet and M.A.C.O. When she left Starfleet, she'd seen the disappointment in her father's eyes, but seeing him when she'd graduated from basic training as a M.A.C.O. had been well worth it later on. Her eyes drifted from the photo toward Kirk. "Or you."

"What?"

"No one would've spent that much time on either of us if he didn't care." she answered.

This time it was Jim who snorted. "I'll drink to that." he signaled the bartender who quickly refilled their glasses. Jim picked his up once more and held it toward Athena. "To Christopher Pike. The best damn father and mentor."

"To the best man who gave a second chance to the one's he felt deserved them." Athena finished. Their glasses clinked together in memory. Athena finished her drink and set the glass down. "He never knew...about us."

Jim turned to her. "You're kidding?"

Athena shook her head chuckling. "Yeah right. I wasn't going to tell him. And even if you had the chance, would you really want to tell your mentor you were sleeping with his daughter?"

"You make it sound like we were breaking regulations." Jim joked.

"We were." she reminded. "But then, I guess we got lucky when it ended. He was too busy with his promotion to notice anything between us."

Jim nodded slowly. Talking about it still wasn't easy. No breakup is easy, but there's had been...different. "If things had been different. If I hadn't...screwed everything up. What do you think he would've said about us?"

"I don't know." she answered. "Part of me think's that he would act like any other father and threaten to kill you. But... I like to he would've approved in the end." She pushed back her stool. "I have to go. New assignment." She stood from her seat. "It was good to see you again Jim. Even if I never expect to."

Jim nodded. "Yeah. Glad you could meet up with me."

Athena extended her hand. "Goodbye Jim."

Jim took her hand in his, never taking his eyes from her. "See you around Athena."

Athena released his hand and turned to leave. Jim watched from his stool as she made her way through the bar, catching the attention of nearly every male patron. Once upon a time, he would've sucker punched anyone who gawked at her. He still felt so inclined too, but he really had no right. He'd given that up when he screwed up. Still, watching her leave now seemed just as painful as it had two years ago. Except their was one difference this time. She looked back at him. Right at the doorway, when she could easily have walked away and never looked back, she did. Her eyes briefly found his before she quickly left the bar.

Jim turned back toward the bar and grabbed his drink. He brought the glass to his lips and stopped. He set his drink down and covered his mouth. So many thoughts flooded his mind, clouding it more than before seeing Athena. Only this time, all his thoughts were about her. Every laughed he caused, every glare, smile, tear, it all came flooding back to him like a tidal wave. Despite what they wanted to think, they were more alike than different. Both were abandoned as children. Athena from birth, Jim only metaphorically-but it may as well have been realistically. Both were fighters, living through two different kinds of hell. Not one could match strategic or physical strength with Athena. She was the best the M.A.C.O.s had. If anything, Jim knew she was stronger than himself. She was the best **he** ever had. The best he would **ever** have.

"Damnit." he sprang from his stool, knocking to the ground with a loud crash. He booked it out of the bar after Athena.

Outside the bar was dark and cool. Cooler than Jim thought it should have been. He quickly searched the immediate area surrounding the bar and found Athena's retreating figure walking down the road toward the city. Jim sprinted after her, pushing the alcohol out of his system, clearing his mind as he grew closer.

"Athena!" he called. "Athena!"

Athena turned suddenly. "Jim?"

He slowed to a stop just a few feet from Athena. "Athena...the reason...I contacted you. I wanted to apologize."

"Don't." Athena's voice was hard and cold, but he could hear the desperation mixed within. "Please don't. Tonight was...unexcitingly nice. Please don't ruin it."

Jim shook his head. "I can't. I can't just leave this alone."

"Damnit Jim." Athena cursed. "Why can't you-"

"Because you were right!" Jim shouted, cutting Athena off. "You were right. I didn't take it seriously. Any of it. Not my rank, the Enterprise, not you. I screwed everything up and I didn't care. And I'm sorry."

Athena looked at Jim for a long while. Her green eyes staring back, lit by only the afterglow of the city. "Why are saying it now?"

"I don't know." Jim shrugged. "Maybe-"

"Maybe what?" Athena demanded. "We try again? After all the shit that you pulled last time, we try it again?"

Jim turned his head in defeat. He knew nothing would be the same between them. There was no changing that. He could spend the rest of his life trying to fix the damage in still never come close. "No. I wouldn't ask you that."

Athena slowly calmed herself. "Then what?"

Not for the first time in his life, Jim Kirk didn't think-he acted. In one step he closed the distance between himself and Athena, wrapping an arm around her waist. His right hand tipped up her chin as his lips met hers. Kissing her felt just as good as he remembered. Her sweet taste tingled over his lips. Athena was stiff, rigid, at first. But as the seconds ticked by and the kiss grew longer, her body relaxed in his grasp. Her hand clutched onto his arm and she moved deeper into the kiss. It wasn't the same as a past kiss. They had been great, there was no use denying it. But they lacked something in them. This one, right now, nothing was missing from it.

Jim pulled from her slowly and waited for the worst. History told him that even after a kiss, Athena was more than likely going to hurt him. Especially if she was angry. He watched her carefully. Her eyes were partially closed, looking down, as she bit her lower lip. Her hand still held onto his arm, but barely.

"Damnit Jim." Athena said, her voice barely rising above a whisper. "How can you be so convincing?"

A smile pulled across his face. He tipped her chin up once more to face his gaze. "Because I don't believe in 'no win situations'."

* * *

I hove no idea where this came from. yes I am aware that very few survive runa penthe let alone a child. don't snap at me about that I do plan on expanding and explaining in later fics. other than that, I hope you enjoyed it.


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